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Dear readers it is time to celebrate the opening of The Perfumed Dandy’s blog with a guest post by none other than the Dandy himself! Today he takes us to Paris where he fist fell in love with women’s perfumes. Now I ask you, where else but in Pairs would a dandy fall in such a way for such a thing.

Without further ado and such may I present Monsieur Dandy and his little friend Mademoiselle Arpege!

Arpege by Lanvin

She appears at first to be such an unnerving child, though she is not a child at all really.

You arrive at the neat counterfeit of a country cottage that is her parents’ home. Your dear friend Andre and his wife Jeanne’s ‘little piece of the Languedoc ‘ in Paris’s Beaux Quartiers. Not far from the Musee Marmottan, a little before the Bois de Boulogne.

She greets you: all gamine beauty but wilful and headstrong, almost unhinged.

Her mother asks her to collect flowers for the house from the Fraysee’s beautiful garden.

She – Margaret is her given name, used exclusively by her mother when upset with her, which is often – turns more than a touch feral.

A teen on a chemical kick she rushes around the manicured borders that pretend after the style of rural meadows pulling up plants careless, or perhaps all too conscious, of their complexion and the destruction she is reeking.

Her mission completed, she dumps the result of her floricultural firestorm: a frenzy of Jasmine, Rose, Iris, Lily, Lily of the Valley, even the precious camellias from the cloche, in a series of unwashed carafes still sour with the stench of last night’s rough white wine.

In the music room, where she places three bloom burdened vessels in a row atop an apparently out of tune upright piano the smell is approaching the unbearable.

Then she starts to hammer out her chromatic scales.

You notice that it is her playing and not the instrument that is off-key. Then you notice that she is doing it quite deliberately.

You catch and then return a sly smile with the daughter of the house. She is affecting inability as acutely as only a true musician can.

What feels like a moment’s conversation of an hour or so follows. She excuses herself to change for dinner.

Whilst the women are preparing themselves you talk politics and the economy and the desperate state of things since the Great Crash and Andre teaches you a new aperitif – vanilla Martinis – the latest American way of forgetting.

Jeanne enters, elegance as ever.

And after her mother, the daughter appears. Her ebony hair tied up to reveal her ivory neck, the style held in place with artist’s pencil.

At dinner she grows, with a glass of wine in hand, into what you realise she now is: a beautiful young woman.

Well read, she speaks eloquently of Eliot and that woman Woolf.

Her fragrance? Is it her mother’s sandalwood or father’s vetiver that envelopes her, or both?

After eating you retire to sweet Amarettos and honeyed Chopin played by the same delicate hands that earlier tore up roots with angry urgency and blundered through elementary piano exercises.

Then she is gone: upstairs for an early night.

She is merely on the cusp of womanhood, holding within her the promise of future greatness, perhaps even an echo of her mother’s magnificent past.

***

Arpege, even in her reigned in contemporary form is a perennially prickly perfume, quite impossible to get to know at once.

Her behaviour in the opening notes is by most measures quite unseemly and to some noses downright upsetting.

But forbearance and a little understanding see this slightly acidic aledhyde blossom first into a full-bodied floral and then a warm-hearted almost wooded amber scent that never loses her edgy integrity.

Arpege can give the best in class – including the biggest names – a run for their money.

People speak in hushed tones of her family heritage and I would have loved to have met her mother in her vintage days.

One of the most beautiful spots in Paris is hardly known outside of its neighborhood. The old roman arena still can be seen if you know where to look. Once the scene of violent gladiatorial combat it is set in a small grove of trees on the left bank surrounded by quiet charming homes and apartments. This theater of death is now a place of contemplation and peace. Only the locals go there so imagine my joy in finding this treasure. Small, elegant and very Lutetian, Lutetian? Yes Lutetia Parisorum or as we know it, Paris has been a city of Gallic elegance and creativity for over two thousand years.

When a master nose such as Alberto Morillas puts his creative mind to a unique scent for a world famous fashion and perfume house, sometimes, if you are lucky alchemy strikes like heat lightning and a masterpiece is born. Morillas is an incredible perfumer who over the last thirty years has created some of the most beloved and enduring scents around today, Giorgio Armani Sensi, Givenchy Pi, Bulgari White Tea, and Colonia Intensa by Acqua di Parma are just the tip of his creative iceberg. Here with the house of Lanvin a perfume house most noted for Arpege and My Sin, Monsieur Morillas has indeed created a stunningly remarkable men’s fragrance. It is simply Lanvin L’homme.

The intriguing blue-violet juice is held captive in a bottle of such clever and irreverent design. It looks like a hand grenade. But it is no power bomb but rather a light refreshing and always charmingly seductive arrangement of notes. It puts me in mind of a dewy spring morning at the old roman arena in Pairs. Sitting there in this respite of green in the center of the city is so refreshing. Just like Lanvin L’homme it is a very personal and special place.

L’homme’s opening is subtle with Neroli, Lavender and Bergamot taking the highroad. Then within moments of this lovely beginning you drop down into the brightly delicious recipe of mint, pepper, a really lush sage and cardamom. The long and sensationally sensuous final fade out of drying down is a slow low stirring of the exotics which I so love, sandalwood, musk, amber and a rich creamy vanilla. Pure and simple, this one is yummy! It projects well and lasts a good 8 hours or so on me. This creative cloud of perfume perfection is a real find for any man who wants something truly special in his collection. Never cloying always masculine and confident Lanvin L’homme is a 90’s winner from one of the masters of the perfume world.

It is the perfect scent to wear when you find yourself in a beautiful Roman ruin contemplating the history and beauty of ancient Lutetia of the Parissi.

BEGUILING HOLLYWOOD
Vickie Lester knows a few things about Hollywood, past and present. One of my absolute favorite must read blogs in town. (don’t mention that I told you but her real name is Esther Blodgett.)

FRAGANTICA
Find a fragance, make friends, write reviews and connect with other frag heads!

FRAGRANCE TALK
Cubby’s site and just about the best online reviewer there is. His video reviews are the BEST!

Garance Doré
Brilliant, warm, sweet and funny, but beyond all that a great photographer of fasion and video blogger.

GRAIN DE MUSC
Denyse Beaulieu’s fabulous blog. Her book The Perfume Lover about the creation of Saville A L’aube by L’Artisan Parfumur is a must read that is next on my must read list. Thanks Katie Puckrick for turning me on to Denyse’s blog.

RIVIERA NAYARIT GRINGO
My friend Earl Miller’s blog about life in the magical town of San Pancho Mexico. Check it out and if you are heading down there stay at Earl’s Roberto’s Bungalows.

SCENT TRAILS
The Frunkinator’s great site for locating perfume brick and mortar shops around the globe. Also listed are perfume events. Great Site!

SCENTRY ~ Perfume Stories
In the words of its Editor, “We feature creative people from all over the world, and the things that connect them with perfume: fantasy, sensuality, vision, and inspiring stories.

SMELL AND TELL
The adventures of a 20 something in Romania and an obsession with fragrances. Very interesting.

SMELLY THOUGHTS
Freddie Albrighton the up and coming l’enfant terrible of perfume blogging! He is brilliant!

TOP 10 FRAGRANCES
“A blog for perfume lovers by perfume lovers.” Jasper Buckingham and his wife who are based in France have a really fine fragance blog. check it out and Jasper’s YouTube channel as well.

WHAT MEN SHOULD SMELL LIKE
From somewhere south west of Tahiti comes this great blog by my buddy Clayton. You are going to thank me for taking you to the land down under.

ZGO Blog
The wonderful and fragrant San Francisco perfume and candle shop now has a fabulous blog!

HAYDRIA PERUMERY
My friend Haydrya has a fabulous perfume house. Perfumes inspired by the glamour decades of the 20th Century from the 20’s to the 60’s. Perfumes handmade with love. Such wonderful names as “Tainted Love”, “L’Eau Exotique, and “Black Mamba”. Check it out!

HISTORIES DE PERFUMS ~ PARIS
A really exciting house…they even make a new perfume “Peter and Alice” that comes in a cupcake flacon. Look for the new “Veni, Vedi, Vici” line as well. Cardamon and Julius Caesar!

HOUBIGANT ~ Paris
The oldest perfume house in existence, founded in Paris in 1775. Marie Antoinette loved their perfumes so much that she had her coachman stop at the perfume house during her attempted escape from Paris in 1789. The house be came the perfumer to royalty

ONE SEED PERFUME
A great little niche house with a heart as big as the Outback. ” One Seed donates 10% of profits to organisations close to our heart, including Collective Shout and Australia Hope International.”

PK Perfume
Paul Kiler is a California Perfumer who creates wonderful scents inspired by the perfumes of the early 20th Century. All formulated from the best natural materials available to him.

SHAY & BLUE ~ LONDON
A brand new perfume house created by ex Senior Vice President of Chanel and former Global General Manager of Jo Malone Ltd and up and coming perfumer Julie Massé . Looks really interesting to me.

THE 7 VIRTUES ~ Perfumes
The 7 Virtues Beauty Inc. is a Canadian company that believes we must flex our buying power to empower families in countries that are rebuilding. In one instance for the Noble Rose perfume they are turning drug poppies farms in Afghanistan into rose farms

TOM FORD ~ FRAGRANCE MEN
The Ellegant and expensive Mr. Ford. His talents are many from fashion to film. His nose is beyond compare.

WEIL PARFUMS
They started out as furriers in 1912. First perfumes were to scent the fur coats.

PERFUME SHOPPING

AEDES DE VENUSTAS ~ NEW YORK
Aedes de Venustas is a great place to shop for scent in New York. They stock the impossible to find you have been searching for high and low. Just GO!

HOUBIGANT ~ Paris
The oldest perfume house in existence, founded in Paris in 1775. Marie Antoinette loved their perfumes so much that she had her coachman stop at the perfume house during her attempted escape from Paris in 1789. The house be came the perfumer to royalty

THE 7 VIRTUES ~ Perfumes
The 7 Virtues Beauty Inc. is a Canadian company that believes we must flex our buying power to empower families in countries that are rebuilding. In one instance for the Noble Rose perfume they are turning drug poppies farms in Afghanistan into rose farms

ZGO San Francisco
The most exciting new personal scent store in San Francisco. World class Perfumes, Candles, and bath soaps. Drop in for a great olfactory experience and tell them Lanier from Scents Memory sent you.

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